You Never Know From Whence Good Information Will Come

The sordid tale makes you want to avert your eyes.  There is a terminally ill wife grappling with her husband’s public confession of an affair.  How that tugs at your heart strings!  But, you find you cannot avert your eyes because there are the journalism ethics questions, “How come The National Enquirer beat the major news sources to the story by almost nine months?  And why was it ignored until photos forced a confession?” 

The John Edwards saga has, at once, so much sadness and so much enlightenment. There are lessons to be learned from this tale of woe.  Some of the basic principles and lessons learned here could have been drawn from similar sagas that have run from Eliot Spitzer back to Grover Cleveland:  1.  Truth percolates.  It just wants out there. Behave accordingly.  And, if you slip, admit it, make amends and disclosures (particularly when in the public eye), and then move forward.  2.  Benjamin Franklin and the Hell’s Angels had it right:  “Three people can keep a secret if two are dead.” 3.  Never trust the people you cheat with; they will throw you under the bus.  4.  Bad news concealed over time does not improve with age.  By postponing, you have the bad news plus you must answer for the fact that you concealed the bad news.  5. We never know, whether in a company or among the national media, from whence important information will come.  Quite often, the source we might regard as insignificant is right.  Herein lies a great lesson for any organization, well beyond the media and journalists.  No matter how left-field the information seems, and no matter how unlikely the source, do not dismiss reports of alleged missteps.  Investigate, question, follow up, and be sure.  Don’t let an issue go because your preconceived notions cause you to doubt the validity of the allegation.  If the allegation is unfounded, you can prove it so.  But, if the allegation is in fact the truth, you may be able to act in time to save some reputations, including your own and that of your company.  Learning when to fold them is an important part of creating an ethical culture.  Admit the mistake, take your lumps, and move forward.  Postponing the first act of admission means the lumps are a bit more difficult to swallow and have been known to induce choking and death.  Reputations are tricky things, salavaged when we own up and too often ruined when we deny for too long.   

About mmjdiary

Professor Marianne Jennings is an emeritus professor of legal and ethical studies from the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University, retiring in 2011 after 35 years of teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in ethics and the legal environment of business. During her tenure at ASU, she served as director of the Joan and David Lincoln Center for Applied Ethics from 1995-1999. In 2006, she was appointed faculty director for the W.P. Carey Executive MBA Program. She has done consulting work for businesses and professional groups including AICPA, Boeing, Dial Corporation, Edward Jones, Mattel, Motorola, CFA Institute, Southern California Edison, the Institute of Internal Auditors, AIMR, DuPont, AES, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Motorola, Hy-Vee Foods, IBM, Bell Helicopter, Amgen, Raytheon, and VIAD. The sixth edition of her textbook, Case Studies in Business Ethics, was published in February 2011. The ninth edition of her textbook, Business: lts Legal, Ethical and Global Environment was published in January 2011. The 23rd edition of her book, Business Law: Principles and Cases, will be published in January 2013. The tenth edition of her book, Real Estate Law, will also be published in January 2013. Her book, A Business Tale: A Story of Ethics, Choices, Success, and a Very Large Rabbit, a fable about business ethics, was chosen by Library Journal in 2004 as its business book of the year. A Business Tale was also a finalist for two other literary awards for 2004. In 2000 her book on corporate governance was published by the New York Times MBA Pocket Series. Her book on long-term success, Building a Business Through Good Times and Bad: Lessons from Fifteen Companies, Each With a Century of Dividends, was published in October 2002 and has been used by Booz, Allen, Hamilton for its work on business longevity. Her latest book, The Seven Signs of Ethical Collapse was published by St. Martin’s Press in July 2006 and has been a finalist for two book awards. Her weekly columns are syndicated around the country, and her work has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the Chicago Tribune, the New York Times, Washington Post, and the Reader's Digest. A collection of her essays, Nobody Fixes Real Carrot Sticks Anymore, first published in 1994 is still being published. She has been a commentator on business issues on All Things Considered for National Public Radio. She has served on four boards of directors, including Arizona Public Service (1987-2000), Zealous Capital Corporation, and the Center for Children with Chronic Illness and Disability at the University of Minnesota. She was appointed to the board of advisors for the Institute of Nuclear Power Operators in 2004 and served on the board of trustees for Think Arizona, a public policy think tank. She has appeared on CNBC, CBS This Morning, the Today Show, and CBS Evening News. In 2010 she was named one of the Top 100 Thought Leaders in Business Ethics by Trust Across America. Her books have been translated into four different languages. She received the British Emerald award for authoring one of their top 50 articles in management publications, chosen from over 15,000 articles. Personal: Married since 1976 to Terry H. Jennings, Maricopa County Attorney’s Office Deputy County Attorney; five children: Sarah, Sam, and John, and the late Claire and Hannah Jennings.
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